ZONOTEICfllA QUERULA, IIAREIS'S SPAEEOW. 157 



ZONOTRICHIA QUERULA, (Nutt.) Gamb. 



Harris's Sparrow. 



FringiUa querula, Ndtt., Man. i, 2d ed., 1840, 555 (Westport, Mo.). 



Zonoirichia querula, Gajib., Jouru. Phila. Acad, i, li:'47, 51.— Bp., Consp. Av. i, 1850, 476.— 

 Bd., B. N. a. 1858, 462.— Allen, Bull. M. C. Z. iii, 1872, 127, 177.— Coues, Key, 

 1872, 145.— TlilPPE, Pr. Bost. Soc. xv, 1872, 237 (Iowa).— SNOW, B. Kans. 1873, 

 7.— B. B. & E., N. A. B. i, 1874, 577, pi. 26, fig. 4, 7. 



FringiUa harrisii, AUD., B. Am. vii, 1843, 331, 484. 



FniijiiUa cemata, Maxim., Eeise Nord-Aui. ii, 1841, — ; J. f. O. vi, 1858, 279. 



Zoii'utriehia comaia, Bp., Consp. Av. i, 1850, 479. 



Hob. — Eegion of the Missouri. East to Eastern Iowa. 



Lieutenant Warren's Expedition. — 4797, Fort Leavenworth ; 4798, Upper Missouri Eiver ; 

 4799, Bald Island ; 5400, Medicine Creek. 

 Not obtained by Captain Raynolds' Expedition. 



Harris's Finch and Sprague's Lark may be regarded as tbe most char- 

 acteristic birds of the Missouri region. The former has not yet been 

 found away from the river at any distance. Nuttall's original is said to 

 be from Westport, in the State of Missouri ; Audubon's cauie from the 

 Black-Snake Hills, in the Kiokapoo country, and Port Croghan. Dr. 

 Hayden took several at the various points above mentioned. Latterly 

 Mr. Allen found the species "exceedingly abundant" at Fort Leaven- 

 worth, in May ; " it was found almost exclusively in the forests, and 

 generally in company with Z. alhlcolUs, which it resembles in habits, 

 and somewhat in song." He informs me that he has specimens in the 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology from various points in Iowa. Prof. 

 Snow states that in Kansas the bird is often taken in winter, probably 

 resident, and abundant in May along the Missouri. In Iowa, according 

 to Mr. Trippe, it is abundant in spring and fall in Decatur County : 

 " This beautiful Sparrow is one of the commonest of the Fringillidm 

 that pass through Decatur County in spring and fall, associating at 

 such times with the other Sparrows and Finches, and frequenting 

 similar haunts. Its notes in the fall are a simple, loud chirp, not dis- 

 tinguishable from that of the White-throated Sparrow, and, occasion- 

 ally, a low, sweet warble; in the spring it has a curious song, beginning 

 very much like that of the latter bird, but ending in a few harsh, 

 drawling notes, sounding like a faint mimicry of the scream of the 

 Night-Hawk, and totally unlike tbe first part of the song." 



In October of the past year I found Harris's Finches in numbers at 

 Fort Eaudall. They were loitering in small troops in the undergrowth 

 of the river-bottom, along with Towhee Buntings and hundreds of Tree 

 Sparrows, all enjoying at their ease the genial sunshine of the linger- 

 ing season. This was the first time I had ever seen the birds alive, and 

 I was struck with their size and beauty — even among the bushes they 

 looked noticeably larger than their eastern allies, reminding me rather 

 of the Z. coronata I observed some years since on the coast of Cali- 

 fornia. I saw none with black head — this part and the neck appearing 

 at a distance grayish-brown, with irregular dark markings on the throat, 

 and breast. They uttered at intervals the usual sparrow-like chirp, but 

 I heard no song. I was not collecting at the time, my outfit having 

 been delayed en route in following me, but their image haunted me for 

 several days, until, borrowing a gun, and securing some shot (big 

 enough to kill ducks with, but the smallest I could get), I started after 

 them again, expecting of course to find them, and gather a good suite 

 illustrating the immature plumage. But I had missed my chance. I 

 ransacked the same tract for hours without success, and at complete 

 loss to account for their sudden disappearance, till I recollected we had 



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